LTE - Congress and School Lunches

Congress is ordering the U.S. Department of Agriculture to consider pizza as a vegetable for school lunches. Pizza a vegetable? Yes! Pizza contains some tomato paste, and Congress says that a couple of tablespoons of the stuff should count as a serving of vegetables for schoolchildren.

Even if we ignore the technicality that a tomato is a fruit rather than a vegetable, this is a sad example of lawmakers putting the financial interests of the food lobby ahead of the well-being of kids. Currently not one person ages 12-19 in this country meets the American Heart Association's criteria for ideal cardiovascular health. Some experts predict that today's children are not expected to live as long as their parents. At a time when trends show our nation's health getting worse, our government has put special interests ahead of efforts to address the childhood obesity pandemic.

Children receive around 40 percent of their daily calories from school lunches. That means we must ensure healthier options are available in school cafeterias, not practice an ignorance that allows a heap of french fries to be considered a legitimate nutritional element.

The American Heart Association urges Congress to fight for an interest more important than the food industry's profit margins: the wellness of our nation's children. Upgrade federal school lunch programs with proper nutrition, not money, in mind.

Kathleen L. Grady, PhD, APN, FAAN
American Heart Association Illinois Advocacy Committee

Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-111128grady_briefs,0,5925071.story